1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to neonatal nutrition and more particularly, to a method and system that will record, calculate, and assist the clinician in problem solving giving a variety of clinical options to feed fragile infants in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (“NICU”).
2. Related Art
Providing adequate and proper nutrition to infants is extremely important in the first few days, weeks and months of life. Of course, it is always important to provide adequate nutrition to infants, but in the case of babies born early and/or with medical complications, it is much more important. Typically, a baby that is born well in advance of his or her due date may be seriously underdeveloped and underweight. Gestation, associated with the time of birth, is often referred to as following into one of the following categories: Preterm (less than 37 weeks), Term (37-42 weeks), and Post-term (greater than 42 weeks). Physical size for gestational age is referred to as Small (weight less than 10th percentile), Appropriate (weight greater than 10th percentile and <90th percentile), and Large (weight greater than 90th % percentile. As it relates to low birth weight, babies traditionally fall into one category or population. These populations include Low Birth Weight (“LBW”) (1500 g-2500 g), Very Low Birth Weight (“VLBW”) (1000 g-1499 g), and Extremely Low Birth Weight (“ELBW”) (<1000 g).
As set forth above, providing adequate nutrition to LBW, VLBW, and ELBW infants presents significant challenges because of the physiological immaturity and severe medical complications often encountered with these infants. These infants may range in weight from about 500-1,500 grams (1.1 lbs.-3.3 lbs.) and may range in gestational age from about 24 weeks to 38 weeks. Premature infants, by definition, have a gestational age less than thirty-eight weeks and usually weigh less than 2,500 grams.
As a result of the difficulty experienced in providing nutrition to this category of infants, nutrition care protocols and guidelines have been developed and continue to develop that are designed to address the nutritional needs of these special infants. The protocols are based on various factors including specific clinical parameters and laboratory values. For example, the amount and type of fluid provided to these infants may be predicated upon the gestational age, weight, urine output, urine specific gravity, and serum electrolyte values, as well as medical status (renal function, cardiovascular symptoms, and so forth).
Vast amounts of clinical and laboratory data are typically collected daily in association with each infant. The clinical and laboratory data are critical tools that are used by physicians to diagnose and treat each infant. The data may take the form of vital signs, neurological signs, intake and output, respiratory settings, hematological data, chemistry data, blood gases and so forth. The ability of the medical team to provide quality care for these infants depends, in large part, upon the easy accessibility of this data.
In current practice, paper forms are often used for recording clinical and laboratory data in neonatal intensive care units (“NICUs”). The nutrition assessment forms include information relating to dates, weight measurements, parental nutrition intakes, enteral nutrition intakes, outputs, lab values, medications, and so forth. Although these forms provide valuable data to physicians, they reduce the amount of time available for patient treatment and often result in numerous searches for relevant information by attending physicians, surgeons, dietitians, neonatal nurse practitioners, residents, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other health care team providers. In addition, because several sections of forms must be filled in by making calculations or looking up relevant data, often by different people, the forms are prone to erroneous entries.
The average length of hospitalization required by these VLBW special infants in a NICU is around 100 days with an average cost of $1 million. They are typically born with immature organs including the lungs and digestive systems and thus specialized critical care nutrition is essential for these babies to grow, fully develop organ systems, respond to medical treatment and survive.
As a result of the aforementioned problems, a need exists for a neonatal nutrition assessment system that is capable of easily and quickly providing critical care givers with real time access to the entire diagnosis and treatment parameters for each infant in a NICU.